QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS

EXPERIMENTAL METHODS
Imran Mahmood
imran.mahmood@ucp.edu.pk
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

• Experimental research is one where the variables can be directly manipulated by the
experimenter.
• The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if this causes
changes in another variable.
• This method relies on controlled research methods and random assignment of study
subjects to test a hypothesis.
WHY PSYCHOLOGISTS CONDUCT EXPERIMENTS?

• Researchers conduct experiments to test hypotheses about the causes of

behavior.
• Experiments allow researchers to decide whether a treatment or program
effectively changes behavior.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

• There are four essential characteristics of experimental research:

control
manipulation
observation
replication
TYPES OF EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS

There are three primary types of experimental design:

• Pre- experimental research design
• True experimental research design
• Quasi experimental research design
PRE-
EXPERIMENTAL
• Pre-experimental design is a research method that
RESEARCH DESIGN
happens before the true experiment and determines
how the researcher's intervention will affect the
experiment.
 • True experimental research design helps investigate
TRUE the cause-and-effect relationships between the
EXPERIMENTAL variables under study.
RESEARCH DESIGN
• The research method requires manipulating an
independent variable, random assignment of
participants to different groups, and measuring the
dependent variable.
 • Like a true experiment, a quasi-experimental
QUASI design aims to establish a cause-and-effect
EXPERIMENTAL relationship between an independent and dependent
RESEARCH DESIGN variable.
• However, unlike a true experiment, a quasi-
experiment does not rely on random assignment.
Instead, subjects are assigned to groups based on non-
random criteria
 • Researchers manipulate an independent variable in an
experiment to observe the effect on behavior, as
LOGIC OF assessed by the dependent variable.
EXPERIMENTAL • Experimental control allows researchers to make the
RESEARCH causal inference that the independent variable caused
the observed changes in the dependent variable.
• Control is the essential ingredient of experiments;
experimental control is gained through manipulation,
holding conditions constant, and balancing.
 • An experiment has internal validity when it fulfills the
LOGIC OF three conditions required for causal inference:
EXPERIMENTAL covariation, time-order relationship, and elimination
RESEARCH of plausible alternative causes.
• When confounding occurs, a plausible alternative
explanation for the observed covariation exists, and
therefore, the experiment lacks internal validity.
 • A study examining the impact of a new teaching
method on students' test scores. The experiment
involves implementing the new teaching method in one
LOGIC OF group (experimental group) while using the traditional
EXPERIMENTAL teaching method in another group (control group). The
RESEARCH dependent variable is the students' test scores.
• The teacher who implements the new teaching method
might be more enthusiastic and motivated than the
teacher using the traditional method. The increased
enthusiasm and motivation could positively influence
the experimental group's performance, leading to
higher test scores.
RANDOM GROUPS DESIGN

• In an independent groups design, each group of subjects participates in only one

condition of the independent variable.
• Random assignment to conditions is used to form comparable groups by balancing or
averaging subject characteristics (individual differences) across the conditions of the
independent variable manipulation.
• When random assignment is used to form independent groups for the levels of the
independent variable, the experiment is called a random groups design.
BLOCK RANDOMIZATION
• Block randomization balances subject characteristics and potential confounding
that occur during the time in which the experiment is conducted, and it creates
groups of equal size.
• A common procedure for carrying out random assignment.
BLOCK RANDOMIZATION

• A researcher is conducting a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a new drug for
treating a medical condition. Age is a crucial factor because the response to the drug
might vary with age. In this case, the researcher might use block randomization as
follows:
• Blocks: Divide participants into blocks based on age groups (e.g., 18-30, 31-45, 46-60).
• Random Assignment within Blocks: Randomly assign participants within each age group
to either the experimental group (receiving the new drug) or the control group (receiving
a placebo).
THREATS TO INTERNAL VALIDITY

• Randomly assigning intact groups to different conditions of the independent variable creates
a potential confounding due to preexisting differences among participants in the intact
groups.
• Block randomization increases internal validity by balancing extraneous variables across
conditions of the independent variable.
• Selective subject loss, but not mechanical subject loss, threatens the internal validity of an
experiment.
• Placebo control groups are used to control for the problem of demand characteristics, and
double-blind experiments control both demand characteristics and experimenter effects.
THREATS TO INTERNAL VALIDITY

• Suppose a researcher is conducting a study on the effectiveness of a new stress reduction program.
Participants are randomly assigned to either a stress reduction group or a control group. As the study
progresses, some participants drop out due to personal reasons.
• Selective Subject Loss: If participants who drop out are primarily those who found the stress
reduction program challenging or were not motivated to reduce stress, it introduces bias. The
remaining sample might overrepresent individuals who are more likely to benefit from the program,
leading to an overestimation of its effectiveness.
• Mechanical Subject Loss: On the other hand, if participants drop out randomly because of factors
unrelated to the study (e.g., job changes, moving to a different location), it might reduce the overall
sample size but may not systematically bias the results.
ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS

The Role of Data Analysis in Experiments

Data analysis and statistics play a critical role in researchers’ ability to make the claim that an
independent variable has had an effect on behavior.
The best way to determine whether the findings of an experiment are reliable is to do a
replication of the experiment.
 • The two most common descriptive statistics that are
used to summarize the results of experiments are the
mean and standard deviation.
• Measures of effect size indicate the strength of the
DESCRIBING THE relationship between the independent and dependent
RESULTS variables, and they are not affected by sample size.
• One commonly used measure of effect size, d,
examines the difference between two group means
relative to the average variability in the experiment.
• Meta-analysis uses measures of effect size to
summarize the results of many experiments
investigating the same independent variable or
dependent variable
CONFIRMING WHAT THE RESULTS REVEAL

• Researchers use inferential statistics to determine whether an independent variable has a

reliable effect on a dependent variable.
• Two methods to make inferences based on sample data are null hypothesis testing and
confidence intervals.
• Researchers use null hypothesis testing to determine whether mean differences among
groups in an experiment are greater than the differences that are expected simply because
of error variation.
ESTABLISHING THE EXTERNAL VALIDITY OF
EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS

• The findings of an experiment have external validity when they can be applied to other
individuals, settings, and conditions beyond the scope of the specific experiment.
• In some investigations (e.g., theory-testing), researchers may choose to emphasize
internal validity over external validity; other researchers may choose to increase external
validity using sampling or replication.
• Conducting field experiments is one way that researchers can increase the external
validity of their research in real-world settings.
ESTABLISHING THE EXTERNAL VALIDITY OF
EXPERIMENTAL FINDINGS

• Partial replication is a useful method for establishing the external validity of research
findings.
• Researchers often seek to generalize results about conceptual relationships among
variables rather than specific conditions, manipulations, settings, and samples.
 • A matched groups design may be used to create
comparable groups when there are too few subjects
available for random assignment to work effectively.
MATCHED GROUPS • Matching subjects on the dependent variable task is
DESIGN the best approach for creating matched groups, but
performance on any matching task must correlate with
the dependent variable task.
• After subjects are matched on the matching task, they
should then be randomly assigned to the conditions of
the independent variable.
 • A study examining the effects of a new reading
intervention on students' reading comprehension.
Researchers are concerned that individual differences in
baseline reading ability might confound the results. In this
MATCHED GROUPS case, a matched-group design could be employed:
DESIGN • Identify Matching Variable: The researchers decide to
match participants based on their initial reading ability,
measured by a standardized reading test.
• Pairing Participants: For each participant in the
experimental group, a participant in the control group with
a similar reading ability score is identified. This creates
pairs of participants with comparable reading abilities.
NATURAL GROUPS DESIGN

• Individual differences variables (or subject variables) are selected rather than manipulated
to form natural groups designs.
• The natural groups design represents a type of correlational research in which researchers
look for covariations between natural groups variables and dependent variables.
• Causal inferences cannot be made regarding the effects of natural groups variables
because plausible alternative explanations for group differences exist.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH

ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
• provides researchers with a high level of • a time-consuming process
control • ethical or practical problems with
• provides conclusions that are specific variable control
• allows cause and effect to be determined • does not provide an actual explanation
• can be combined with other research • cannot always be controlled
methods
 • Researchers conduct experiments to test hypotheses
derived from theories, but experiments can also be
used to test the effectiveness of treatments or
SUMMARY programs in applied settings.
• The experimental method is ideally suited to
identifying cause-and-effect relationships when the
control techniques of manipulation, holding conditions
constant, and balancing are properly implemented.